US pilot and endurance athlete Nathan Longhurst set out on 17 November last year to link every summit on The New Zealand Alpine Club’s 100 Great Peaks list in a solo climb-and-fly adventure. Nathan, 24, who works as a seasonal trail running guide in the US, hopes to complete the list in March 2025 before the weather closes in.
“It’s hard,” he said. “So far, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in the mountains.”
He started hiking an hour after landing in Queenstown, New Zealand. “I basically went straight from the airport to Double Cone (2,340m) right above Queenstown.”
Nathan first came to New Zealand in March 2024 and “fell in...